South Africa · Rivers
Rivers in South Africa
YearMaps maps 16 rivers in South Africa. The full list follows.
How this list is built: Listed alphabetically. A river is listed where its mapped reach lies, so long rivers appear under more than one country. It covers the rivers indexed in YearMaps, drawn from open geospatial data, and is not an exhaustive national register.
- Rivers Listed
- 16
- With Full Profile
- 15
Linked to a detail page
| Name | Type | Also Flows Through |
|---|---|---|
| Auob | River | Namibia |
| Caledon | River | Lesotho |
| Gamka | River | — |
| Gamtoos | River | — |
| Gourits | River | — |
| Great Kei | River | — |
| Limpopo | River | Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe |
| Maputo | River | Mozambique |
| Marico | River | Botswana |
| Mogalakwena | River | — |
| Molopo | River | Botswana |
| Olifants | River | — |
| Orange | River | Lesotho, Namibia |
| Pongola | River | — |
| Tugela | River | — |
| Vaal | River | — |
About the Rivers of South Africa
The 15 rivers above with an encyclopedia article, in brief. Each name opens the river's full page, with its course on the map.
- Auob
- The Auob River is a river in the Northern Cape province of South Africa and the Hardap Region of Namibia. It flows through the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. It is a tributary of the Nossob River. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Caledon
- The Caledon River is a major river located in central South Africa. Its total length is 642 km, rising in the Drakensberg Mountains on the Lesotho border, flowing southwestward and then westward before joining the Orange River near Bethulie in the southern Free State. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Gamka
- Gamka River is a river located in the Western Cape, South Africa. The name 'gamka' means 'Lion' and was probably named so by the San people. The river originates north of Beaufort West, generally flowing southwest towards the Gamkapoort Dam. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Gamtoos
- Gamtoos River or Gamptoos River is a river in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Kouga River and the Groot River and is approximately 645 kilometres long with a catchment area of 34,635 square kilometres. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Gourits
- Gourits River, sometimes spelled 'Gouritz River', is situated in the Western Cape, South Africa. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Great Kei
- The Great Kei River is a river in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Black Kei River and White Kei River, northeast of Cathcart. It flows for 320 km and ends in the Great Kei Estuary at the Indian Ocean with the small town Kei Mouth on the west bank. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Limpopo
- The Limpopo River rises in South Africa and flows generally eastward through Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. The river is approximately 1,750 km long, with a drainage basin of 415,000 km2 in size. The mean discharge measured over a year is 170 m3/s to 313 m3/s at its mouth. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Maputo
- The Maputo River, also called Great Usutu River, Lusutfu River, or Suthu River, is a river in South Africa, Eswatini, and Mozambique. The name Suthu refers to Basotho people who lived near the source of the river, but were attacked and displaced by the Swazis. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Marico
- The Marico River or Madikwe is a river in Southern Africa. There are a number of dams in its basin. Groot Marico town is named after the Marico River. After it is joined on its right bank by the Crocodile River it is known as the Limpopo River. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Mogalakwena
- The Mogalakwena River is one of the main watercourses in Limpopo Province, South Africa. It is also a major tributary of the Limpopo River. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Molopo
- The Molopo River is one of the main rivers in Southern Africa. It has a length of approximately 960 kilometres and a catchment area of 367,201 km2 with Botswana, Namibia and South Africa sharing roughly about a third of the basin each. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Orange
- The Orange River is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of 2,432 km, the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Pongola
- The Pongola River is a river in South Africa. It is a tributary of the Maputo River. It rises near Utrecht in northern KwaZulu-Natal, flows east through oPhongolo, is dammed at Pongolapoort, and crosses the Ubombo Mountains; then it flows north towards Mozambique, joining the Maputo River. (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0)
More on South Africa
Quick Answers
- How many rivers are there in South Africa?
- YearMaps lists 16 rivers for South Africa. This is the number mapped in the atlas, not an official national count.
- Which rivers of South Africa also flow through other countries?
- The Auob (also Namibia); The Caledon (also Lesotho); The Limpopo (also Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe); The Maputo (also Mozambique); The Marico (also Botswana); The Molopo (also Botswana); The Orange (also Lesotho, Namibia).